WOODS HOLE – Prediction: The 34th annual Woods Hole Film Festival will be a knockout.
That’s based on past years, when several of the festival’s films have made my annual “best of” lists, and on some of this year’s offerings that I’ve already screened in advance.
The event officially opens on Saturday, July 26, with a special screening on July 25, and ends on Saturday, Aug. 2. I’ve seen five of the movies set for opening weekend, and there’s a bit of a time overlap on two. But if you play your cards right, you can catch most of them. Besides, who’s to say the ones I haven’t seen won’t be just as good if not better?
Here are the five films (I’ll write about more after the festival begins):
Jacinda Ardern appears in Prime Minister by Lindsay Utz and Michelle Walshe, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Radio New Zealand
“Prime Minister” (6:45 p.m. Sunday, July 27; Redfield Auditorium). Imagine, if you can, a world leader who acts with kindness, compassion, dignity and courage, rather than … well, you know.
That’s the story of Jacinda Ardern, who served as prime minister of New Zealand for five years. This documentary, from directors Michelle Walshe and Lindsay Utz, gives us a close-up view of Ardern through this period, as she responds to a terrorist attack that kills more than 50 people at a mosque and the COVID pandemic, while also taking progressive approaches to climate change, child poverty, mental illness and other issues.
Inspired by her historical hero explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, Ardern strives to save as many lives as possible, whether by pushing through gun-control laws or establishing strict quarantines. She places humanity, doing the right thing, over money or political expediency – willingly, though not happily, paying a price to do so.
It’s moving to see someone in public office exhibit such common sense, character and heart; don’t be surprised if you get choked up long before New Zealand/Australian band Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over” accompanies the end credits. **** (out of four)
Statue of Giuseppe Verdi next to Casa Verdi. (Courtesy Woods Hole Film Festival)
“Viva Verdi!” (5:30 p.m. Saturday, July 26; Clapp Auditorium). Yvonne Russo’s documentary begins with a quote from Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901): “Among my works the one I like best is the home that I’ve built in Milan for accommodating old singers not favored by fortune.”
The palatial home to which he refers, Casa Verdi, was built in 1898 and opened just after Verdi’s death. Director Russo takes us there now, introducing us to its many “guests” – retired opera singers and musicians, average age 85 – as they share their life stories, and feelings about aging and death; perform for each other (sometimes as a form of therapy); and provide guidance for young singers and musicians.
One of the most animated residents, former opera baritone and music teacher Carlo Giombi, 80, is shown encouraging students to experiment together by combining harp, guitar and voice as a way of “creating energy,” and you can see the excitement of discovery on his pupils’ faces.
The beauty and power of music, and the passion and vitality it continues to inspire in the home’s guests, is certainly one of the primary themes of “Viva Verdi!” But the film goes even deeper as it poignantly explores life and death through the eyes of the elderly.
“I love life,” Carlo says. “But I also don’t mind thinking about the end. … I would like to get there with a smile on my face.”
Thanks to the generosity of Giuseppe Verdi, there’s a good chance he will. ****
“The Summer Book.” (8:30 p.m. Saturday, July 26; Redfield Auditorium). Director Charlie McDowell’s gentle, understated narrative feature also considers life and death, but in the kind of setting one might find in an Ingmar Bergman film.
Glenn Close, right, with Emily Matthews in “The Summer Book.” (Coutesy Woods Hole Film Festival)
Nine-year-old Sophia (Emily Matthews) spends a summer with her grandmother (Glenn Close) and father (Anders Danielsen Lie – so great in “The Worst Person in the World”) in a cabin on a small secluded island in the Gulf of Finland. They’re all reeling from the recent death of Sophia’s mother, though the topic barely comes up in conversation. Dad, an illustrator, buries himself in his work, leaving Sophia, who thinks he no longer loves her, to explore the natural surroundings with aging Grandma.
Though there are clearly deep emotions at play here, McDowell presents this story, based on a book by Tove Jansson, with a leisurely pace. It feels, in many ways, like a summer getaway, with Sophia and, in particular, the grandmother savoring life, whether it’s the girl experiencing what it’s like to sleep in a tent or the old woman just sitting and, as she puts it, “listening” – to the nature around her, knowing she doesn’t have much time left to enjoy life.
Throughout, though, there’s also the characters’ underlying grief to balance whatever quiet joys they experience.
There’s no big payoff, emotional or otherwise; no great pronouncements. And that’s what makes this film so good. You’re left to make of it what you will, to experience it as you will. It feels like real life, bittersweet and sublime. ***½
“Overcome” (special screening at 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 25; Redfield Auditorium). Amy Brenneman (“Judging Amy,” “Private Practice,” “NYPD Blue”) wrote (with Sabrina Peck) and stars in this stage show, recorded in 2024 at the Cotuit Center for the Arts. In it, she talks about her experiences and relationship with her daughter, Charlotte, who was born with a rare (one in 14,000) chromosomal abnormality and has special needs.
Brenneman shares her frustration, occasionally with amusing sarcasm, as she details years of getting few answers from professionals on the exact nature of Charlotte’s condition or what she can do as a parent to help her daughter.
These experiences alone are eye-opening, but Brenneman also discusses a realization on her part that inspires a different way of thinking about the situation, an acceptance that isn’t resignation so much as a triumph.
It’s this revelation in particular that makes Brennamen’s show not just special, but important.
Granted, “Overcome” isn’t especially cinematic, which is to be expected from a stage show not “opened up” or redone for film. The occasional choreography and music don’t really help – they’re more of a distraction than an enhancement..
But Brennamen’s words, and the emotions behind them, are powerful, and stand on their own. I suspect the live performance comes across even stronger, but the film is still a good second option.
Plus, the writer-actress will be at the festival screening, a big plus. ***
And a short …
“Dukakis: Recipe for Democracy” (28 minutes, precedes “The Quiet Diplomat,” 8 p.m. Saturday, July 26, Clapp Auditorium). First, in the interest of transparency: Erin Trahan, who directed this Dukakis doc with Jeff Schmidt, is a fellow member of the Boston Society of Film Critics and a friend.
That said …
In their film about Michael Dukakis, the three-term Democratic Massachusetts governor who ran against George H. W. Bush for president in 1988, Trahan and Schmidt cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time.
The filmmakers obviously had great access to their subject. He’s shown, at 85 (he’s now 91), making turkey soup in his Brookline home and engaging with students at Northeastern. Among many other things, he discusses his Greek immigrant parents (he proudly notes that democracy began in Athens), playing three sports while attending Brookline High, how he continues to ride the T, the Iran-Contra Affair during the Reagan administration as a reason why he ran for president (“I don’t like people who break the law”).
Juan Gallego, initially a student assistant for Dukakis at Northeastern, also is interviewed, and discusses how his mentor encouraged and inspired him to go into public service.
Given Dukakis’ passion for serving others, it’s easy to see why. ***
More festival info: woodsholefilmfestival.org.
** Click here for Tim Miller’s previous movie columns for Cape Cod Wave **
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Tim Miller
Tim Miller is co-president of the Boston Society of Film Critics and a Tomatometer-approved critic. He teaches film and journalism at Cape Cod Community College in West Barnstable. You can contact Tim at [email protected] or follow him onTwitter @TimMillerCritic. Or you can ignore him completely.
